Solid state storage of hydrogen and its isotopes: An engineering overview

Solid state storage of hydrogen in the form of a reversible metal or alloy hydride has been proven to be a very effective and compact way of storing hydrogen and its isotopes for both stationary and mobile applications. Other than metal based systems, a wide variety of materials have been studied for this purpose and their thermodynamic properties, storage capacity, etc. have been determined. Heat transfer issues form an important consideration for the engineering design of a metal hydride based hydrogen storage system, hence several kinds of storage beds have been fabricated and their performance analyzed. The kinetics and mechanism of these hydriding processes for various types of storage materials have also attracted a great deal of interest. This work summarizes some of the information available on solid state storage of hydrogen isotopes which is essential for the engineering design of a storage system. The focus is on the engineering and technical issues and the practical considerations pertinent to the design and operation of such storage systems for various applications.